Just a great article on poor ol' Barry Bonds.

URL: ESPN.com: Page 2 : Bonds' performance Oscar-worthy

I loved Married...with Children when it was on and I still love to watch it to this day. If it's on while I'm flipping, I'll watch for a while. However, last night, while browsing my DVR's guide, I noticed that an episode was on where the Bundys buy a computer. I hadn't seen this one, and I was curious to see what they got. So...here's the specs of the $2100 computer with a $200 discount:

3600 baud modem
VGA high resolution color monitor
40 megabyte hard disk
and 7 megabytes of RAM

What a steal for just $1900.

URL: Sony Pictures - Married with Children

Part 2 of today's steroid rants. We all know that very little came from the steroid hearings before congress last week, but what bothered me the most was the two sets of parents who blamed baseball players for the deaths of their children. Apparently, because McGwire and Bonds had taken steroids and made it big, these deluded young men thought they could do the same. Yet, the parents take no responsibility. It's not their fault that their kids took steroids. It's somehow the fault of the players.

Denise Garibaldi, her voice trembling, told Congress Thursday that all her son, Rob, had wanted in life was to be a professional baseball player like his heroes, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds.

Urged by scouts and coaches to bulk up to get drafted, the collegiate player from Petaluma turned to steroids. According to his mother, Rob persisted in using the illicit drugs even when they plunged him into fits of anger and depression that ultimately led him to take his own life at age 24.

Yes...he wanted to be like his heroes, so he used illegal drugs. It must be the player's fault. Apparently, similar to Barry Bonds, these families take no responsibility on themselves. It seems that Rob "plunged into fits of anger and depression," yet what did his parents do? Not enough I guess since he continued to use illegal steroids. Did they provide him counseling? Did they make sure that he knew that steroids are illegal? If he was using steroids, what other drugs could he have been using? I really don't know all the facts about this case, and I'm quite sure it's easy to take steroids behind your parents' backs at school in the lockerroom, but it's also far easier to take them locked in your room without any teammates around. I'm sure you can hide your "roid rages" for so long, but it seems the parents noticed his depression - yet, what was done to help stop those fits of anger? I'm sure the parents will have excuses for everything that has happened and it's probably easier for them to rationalize the death by blaming the superstars, but it's just an easy cop-out and more than McGwire refusing to answer questions about the past, more than Bonds not even being invited to the hearing, and more than Sosa pretending to know no English, this was the one thing that stood out from last week's hearings and make me upset.

"How many more youngsters will die questing ego and fame through steroids?" Garibaldi asked at Thursday's hearing on steroids in baseball.

I guess it's just easier to blame the professionals for the deaths of their children rather than accepting the fact that it was just bad parenting. How many more youngsters will die from poor parenting?

URL: Congress slams baseball's integrity / Lawmakers take a hard line with players and game's officials on steroids policy / PARENTS' STORIES / Their sons' deaths blamed on steroids

Part 1 of 2 sports-related blog posts for this morning. Firstly, Bonds says that he's "tired" and "done" most likely for the season. And somehow, from all the media coverage I've heard (I get very limited sports talk radio during the day, and even less sports television at night with my classes), it's the media's fault that he's quitting. Barry said, "You finally brought me and my family down. ... So now go pick a different person," referring to the media.

So we're supposed to now shift the blame to the media. We're supposed to feel sorry for Bonds now. We're supposed to ignore the fact that he took steroids. Ignore the fact that he was juiced when he set all the records. Ignore the fact that if he plays for another season or two, he'll have one of the most important records in baseball - most homeruns. Ignore the fact that he has admitted under oath that he took "the cream" and "the clear" - both steroids - though he claims he didn't know they were steroids. Sure Barry. Just like we're supposed to feel sorry for you now. Just like it's the media's fault.

Why not take some personal responsibility? The reason your body is falling apart is because you can't take steroids any more. The reason the media has been so hard on you is because you were about to set one of the most hallowed records in all of sports - but it would have been tainted by your steroid use. It's not the media's fault they've been hard on you - it's yours. It's not just 'chance' that your body is falling apart at the age of 40 - it's the steroids that you've been taking for 20 years. Fess up. Admit you've taken steroids and that your records should have an asterisk after them. Be a man*.

*Or as much of a man as is possible after 20 years of steroids. See how easy an asterisk is to use? Hopefully you get used to it Bonds. Because if there's any justice in the world, your tainted records - along with those of Giambi or anyone else who has been found to have used steroids will have a nice big * after them.

URL: ESPN.com: The Daily Quickie

Just one question: Who wants Terri Schiavo to die?

The answer: Her husband.

That's it. Her parents want her to live - they've been keeping her alive for years - her husband has to do nothing. Congress wants her to live. The Senate wants her to live. The President wants her to live. Hundreds, if not thousands, of supporters want her to live. Yet because one person wants her to die, she just might? How insanely ridiculous is that? Her husband claims that she said she wouldn't want to live like this. It's not written down anywhere and no one can validate that claim. But because her husband wants her to die, she just might.

Last week, on the same Boston Legal that I referenced below dealing with FNC, they also had a case where an attorney with ALS wanted to be euthanized and then frozen so he could have the chance to come back to life in future decades - or even future millenia. The judge dismissed his case, ruling, that above all, the right to life was supreme in this country. Yet, because one person wants Terri Schiavo to die, she just might.

For what it's worth, I have no problem with assisted suicide. Hell, if I were in Terri Schiavo's situation, I might want to die as well. I certainly don't want to grow old with some debilitating disease that corrupts my brain and takes away my autonomy. In the case above regarding ALS, I too would want to die before my brain began to waste away and deprive me of my basic functions. And I shouldn't have to go to court to allow me to choose the right to die. But here we're talking about two different things - on one hand, my personal preference is that I wouldn't want to live like Terri Schiavo, with a feeding tube being my lifeline to the world, yet, I have no right to say that because I wouldn't want to live that way, she wouldn't want to either. And just because her husband says that's what she wants, it certainly doesn't mean that's how she truly feels. And just because I wouldn't want to live with ALS or a similar disease, that doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't want to live their life to the very last minute before finally being overtaken by the disease.

In essence, to each his own. In this case, leave the feeding tube in. There's one person who wants her dead, yet thousands of others who want her to stay alive.

URL: My Way News